So now you've all heard the big news - GameCola's final issue is out before it will be changing format. I've been working hard to bring you guys an all-new GameCola. It's coming, and it will be big. There's quite a lot of new features to look forward to. Aside from the fact that authors can post content at any time, meaning there's always something to look at (as opposed to our once-a-month format now), we're going to be breathing life back into some old features and bringing you some new features to look forward to.

As Paul said, we do have a timeline for the transition, but even today, nothing's perfect. We'll be bringing you updates routinely to let you know what's going on, right up until the final launch.

That said, out of my busy schedule, I've got a large block roped off just for GC. Of that, I've been spending a lot of time focussing on getting the new GameCola launched & ready to go - and I'm happy to say, there's been a lot of progress in that department. In addition to this, one of things I have had to do was move the GameCola Interactive (RSS, blogs, forums, comments) stuff over to a new server, to get it all ready to be integrated with the new GameCola. The downside to this, however, is that I've been so busy, and as a result I've been neglecting to keep up on some of the more routine stuff that I usually do. As a result, I am aware that there are some bugs in the older parts of GameCola that have surfaced recently. Some of the comment boxes have disappeared, some of the flash videos embedded in blog posts are no longer working and the forums are once again being spammed. (Although this is nothing compared to what some of you remember from the past when we've had to deal with forum spam). Any of you familiar with web programming may have also noticed that, at the moment, we're being visited by the notorious PHP escaping bug. (For those of you not up with the programming, there's some rude little backslashes barging their way into various posts, particularly around apostrophes and quotes). 

I wanted to take the time to apologise for these bugs, and let you know that I am aware of them, and I intend to fix the more severe ones as soon as I can. The less critical ones - these would be bugs that are annoying, but don't hinder use of the site - may have to wait until the relaunch, since that should rid us of any old bugs laying around. I ask that you bear with me while I deal with all these issues, old and new.

If you wish to help, all I ask is that you keep an eye out for anything I haven't mentioned, and if you see any bugs I'm not yet aware of, post on the forums and let me know, and I'll address them shortly. Additionally, if you see any spam on the forums, take 5 seconds and click the 'report to moderator' link, and I'll ensure it gets removed shortly.

Thanks everyone!

Kevin

UPDATE:

• The backslash/escaping issue should now be resolved on all future posts made.
• The issue that caused the comments on the blog to disappear should also now be resolved.
• No more flash/shockwave errors should appear when reading the blog page.

New podcast is out!

Enjoy it guys.

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This podcast is made up of four segments.

Segment One: Versus Mode (0:00 to 13:30)

New podcast is out once again!

Paul explains what happend to Carbonated News.

Miles Edgeworth is getting his own game.

We're not too excited about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Banjo-Tooie is being re-released. Nobody but Zach cares.

Final Fantasy is kinda lame. TestGame is cooler.

Segment Two: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (13:30 to 30:35)

Michael Gray summarizes the case because no one can remember it, and he played it recently.

Asking if Mia has a thing for Phoenix leads to a long discussion on various possible relationships in the Phoenix Wright series. Zach Rich doesn't participate in this segment.

Segment Three: Time Travelling in Video Games (30:35 to 47:20)

There are two concepts of Time Travel: Back to the Future and Dragonball Z.

Time Hollow randomly goes back-and-forth between those two concepts, which is confusing.

How does time travel work in Ocarina of Time?

Simultaneous events don't happen. We are isolated temporally.

How do you pronounce Saria?

Mario's Time Machine = Carmen Sandiego

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed made Zach Rich cry.

Segment Four: Games We're Playing Now (47:20 to end)

Michael is playing Fire Emblem for the DS.

Lizo is playing the first .hack game, despite the difficult final boss.

Paul is playing Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island

Zach is playing good games like Star Ocean Four.

No interesting games are being released in April.

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Click play to listen:

   

New Podcast is out!

These are the notes, or so I'm told:

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Hey folks, here’s the latest podcast from the GameCola crew. This time around we have:

-Michael Gray’s rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” along with some delightful little commercials.

-GameCola’s own editor-in-chief Paul “Mr. Wiggles” Franzen as a commentator.

-Discussions on the downloadable content, the state of the gaming industry, and how the gaming industry is viewed by society.

-BONUS: A SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE BY MICHAEL GRAY’S MOM!

Enjoy!

(P.S. Sorry for the beeping sound that occurs during a couple minutes of the podcast; there was a car alarm going off in the background and not all of it could be edited out.)

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Click play to listen:

   

The new Podcast is out now, and this is what it's about from my understanding!

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GameCola Podcast #4: Wind Waker Blows

The March GameCast is split up into three basic segments:

Versus Mode: The Podcast Crew talks about gaming news. (starts 2:30)
The two Michaels debate the quality of Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (starts 16:45).
What's Coming Out Next Month and What We're Playing Now (starts 42:35)

Various topics discussed include:

Part of Your World.
The atlasphere in Dead Rising 2 is awesome.
Sony says the PS3 will take off any day now.
Watching movies on your video game system.
The podcast crew argue whether or not Shirley Temple would have done a better job in Wizard of Oz than Judy Garland did.
Let's Tap for Wii is coming States-side.
Bad economy means lame games.
Nintendo, cut your prices every once in a while.
Michael Ridgaway plays Pokemon one-handed.
It's possible to kill Ganondorf with an empty bottle.
The Michaels are confused by the lack of continuity in the Zelda series.
The Michaels want to see another Majora's Mask.
Michael Gray explains what slash fanfiction is.
The Michaels argue about whether or not it's obvious that Tetra is Zelda.
Michael Ridgaway thinks Michael Gray is lame.
The Michaels argue about Wind Waker Link's victory dance.
The Michaels argue whether or not the impossible jumping challenge is impossible.
Michael Ridgaway is tempted to play one of Tingle's games.
If you look at the Ocarina of Time Quote FAQ or Text Dump, Navi does not say all that much.
Beethoven thinks the GameCola podcast is awesome.
Michael Gray is trapped in the 1940's.
Buy Guitar Hero: Metallica so Colin can feed his kids.
A Thomas Edison impersonation.
Paul Franzen is stalking the male GameCola staff members.
Crystal Chronicles could be good.
Halo Wars could be good, too.
Michael Ridgaway wants to read The Miles Edgeworth Files.
Pokemon Plantinum is coming out, so no one will hear from Michael Ridgaway for the next few months. Pikmin Wii? Maybe it'll be good.
Nobody is surprised at how nerdy Michael Gray can be.
It's over now.

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Click play to listen:

   

There's a new podcast out from the GameCola crew. I haven't listened to it yet myself, so I don't know if I should be as offended as I was for the last podcast yet or not! Apparently, however, the following topics were discussed:

   

As I'm sure everyone who has looked at the latest issue is aware, there are some big upgrades going on for some of the interactive GameCola features - in this case, comments and ratings. However, there have been some teething difficulties with these upgrades that have effected the following services in some way:

Well guys, the second podcast has been uploaded. You should go check it out at the podcast site or by clicking the play button below in this post.. I must say, I was quite insulted by this one, so if you would like to be insulted as well, have a listen! Lots of things were talked about, and there are surely some laughs to be had. Everyone who contributed and put it together did an excellent job, and I swear, I'm not a woman.